Korea looking into Apple complaint over Samsung's 3G patent "abuse"

The South Korea's Fair Trade Commission on Thursday said it will investigate Samsung over complaints from Apple that it is "abusing" its position as a contributor to cellular communication standards. The official investigation follows a similar investigation in Europe, as well as rulings by several courts around the world that have largely rebuffed Samsung's efforts to obtain injunctions against Apple using standards-essential 3G patents.

Apple and Samsung have been locked in a seemingly bitter, high-profile legal dispute since April 2011, when Apple sued Samsung in US federal district court for allegedly copying the iPhone's design and features. As the clash escalated, lawsuits by both companies were filed in 10 different countries around the world. While Apple leveraged various patents and registrations related to smartphone features, Samsung's main offensive largely relied on leveraging its patents related to 3G wireless technology.

We argued that using such patents wasn't such a smart idea, as judges don't typically look favorably on the use of standards-essential patents to grant injunctions. So far, courts in the Netherlands, France, Italy, and Germany have rejected Samsung's requests. Still, the overtures attracted the attention of the European Commission, which is currently investigating Samsung for possible antitrust violations related to its 3G patent lawsuits.

In the US, a jury ruled that Apple didn't infringe any of Samsung's 3G-related patents (while ruling that Samsung did in fact copy certain elements and features of the iPhone). However, the Federal Trade Commission and members of Congress have publicly stated that standards-related patents should not be used as the basis for granting injunctions against any product.

In South Korea, however, courts did grant injunctions against several Apple products, ruling the devices infringed Samsung's 3G patents. Given that ruling, it's difficult to say how the Free Trade Commission will view the situation.